Space Invaders
by Oroku Saki
Summary: As a young boy, Oroku Saki becomes obsessed with an arcade game. Yet through his innocent motives to enjoy his strict childhood, he unknowingly gets caught between Nagi and Tang Shen’s deteriorating relationship. An origin story.
1. Things Change

Disclaimer - I do not own any of the characters, except for the supporting cast (mother, father, school bullies, random people, etc).

Fanfic Notes - This fanfic is based very, very, very loosely on the original comic. Set when Saki is ten and Nagi is eighteen.

**Space Invaders**

**Chapter 1: Things Change**

The world was changing, that much was certain. Not just within my own life, but the town as a whole. Japan had only just begun to recover from its devastating defeat in World War II. Cities were becoming more populated, technology was developed to assist a booming economy, and America had sunk its consumerist claws and teeth into our culture and civilization. My father hated it. He was always proud of the old ways and traditions. Like many others his age that had lived before the war, he found organizations such as The Foot as a source of undying patriotism.

People in the town always appreciated the presence of The Foot and what it represented. Back then it was viewed as a historical, simple training facility, where students could be reacquainted with their ancestral Japanese traditions. Members were highly regarded by the general population, and positions within The Foot were fiercely sought after. The organization held some mystery, and there were rumors circling that it operated like an unofficial police force. However, it was an honorable place to be. I like to think it still is, but unfortunately others these days now disagree.

My older brother Nagi was a Foot soldier. He had been a member ever since I was born. Everyone was so proud of him, especially my father. The two of them loved to talk about the olden times, and what traditions Nagi upheld while learning ninjitsu as part of The Foot. I guess that's why I never got along with my father. To be honest, I never minded the Americanization of our culture, as I felt it was inevitable. I simply thought that the world was evolving, and while I really looked up to my brother and respected what he was a part of, I didn't have that much of a desire or a reason to follow in his footsteps. So I was an utter dilemma to my father, who constantly urged me to be more like Nagi.

In truth, when I was a young boy, I wasn't good at anything. At school, although I had an interest in mathematics, upcoming technology and dissecting rats in biology, I still didn't have a tendency to gain good grades. Essentially I was a disappointment to my family. I was neither interested in my family's political and traditional stances, nor did I seem to have much of a future in a career elsewhere. I felt like I was merely stumbling through life with no hope and no direction. But as always, there was room for change.

Space Invaders was first introduced into my life when I was ten years of age. It was an arcade game, and while in today's standards it would be considered crude, back then it was the most fascinating thing I could have at my fingertips. I would save all the money I gained from my chores, and instead of buying delicious delicacies like I used to, I would spend it on the game. School was hard, and after enduring hours of learning useless and pathetic information, on the way home I would stop by the store that contained the arcade game. To me it was a godsend. I would play it everyday until it was absolutely dire that I had to be home.

Then one day, the unthinkable occurred. It was like any other. After experiencing another mediocre day at school, I would rush over to the store, just feverish to play Space Invaders located in the shady corner. I would tap that little red button like a maniac and swivel around the joystick until my wrist became stiff. It was so intense that sweat started to dribble down my forehead. While playing that game, I never felt so alive in my life! An hour passed by, then two. It was the longest I had ever played. Eventually I couldn't keep it up and I was beaten. Yet to my surprise, a blank space flashed beside the first place position. I, the boy who never accomplished anything, had made it to the scoreboard.

I was still delirious with excitement and glee when I had arrived home. However it never took my father long to dump me back into my place. Dinner was always a horrid affair, with family discussions taking place every night. My mother would typically start off by asking, "How was your day?"

"Same as always," my father would grumble as a reply. He was a hard-working businessman who worked over a forty-hour week to ensure that we could place food on the table. We weren't a wealthy family, but we weren't exactly poor either. There was usually money left over at the end of the week that it could be saved up, or given to us as a reward. We could have gotten by without my father pulling extra shifts, but he was a workaholic. In doing so, he also expected his sons to have the same excellent work ethic as himself.

My father never liked to talk about his boring and average line of work. So he usually turned his attention straight onto his favourite son, Nagi. "How's The Foot coming along? Still teaching the new comers?" He loved to discuss the topic. Sometimes I wondered if it was a childish fantasy of his to fight like a warrior and use medieval weapons, as he always tried his best to get as much involved with Nagi's world as possible.

"I had a new student today," Nagi said. My brother wasn't the leader of The Foot. Rather he was one of the higher ranks, where it was his job to instruct inexperienced pupils in some of the basic areas, however the clan's leader oversaw most of the training.

"Any good?" My father was so intent on hearing every stupid detail.

"Very good. There's a lot of potential there."

"How old is he?" My father wanted to pry even more.

"Eight."

"Eight! Saki, are you listening to this? An eight-year-old can get into The Foot! Why can't you?" I knew it would only take a matter of time before my father started to degrade me.

"Because I don't try out," I murmured.

"Well you should! Look at how respected your brother is!"

"I don't want to join The Foot," I muttered under my breath. I could literally see the anger rise within my father.

"Why wouldn't you want that?" he snapped. "What's wrong with you? Why can't you be more like your brother?"

I groaned. I had heard that argument before. I was always compared to Nagi. "Saki just has different interests, father," Nagi was kind enough to try and defend me.

"Different interests? Like what? Saki, look at me. What are you good at?" My father just wouldn't back down. Mother never spoke up when my father was like this, while my brother allowed the room to fall silent. Back then I used to wonder if I was a game to my father – if I was merely an object that he could take out all of his frustrations that originated from work. I didn't know how to respond. I felt like my words were being smothered with insecurity.

"I am good at something," I whispered while I gazed hopelessly at my abandoned bowl of food that was in front of me. I didn't know if I should continue. But I wanted to defend myself – I wanted my father to be proud of me for something.

"Oh? And what's that?" My father sounded intrigued, though I knew he was waiting for another opportunity to tear me down.

"Space Invaders." I cringed when I said those words, as I knew what was going to come next. I dropped my hands a little and braced myself by digging my fingernails onto the edge of the table.

"Space Invaders?" Father demanded to know more.

"It's an arcade game," I murmured, first clearing my throat. "I got on the high score table. First place," I explained further. At first I didn't know whether my father was stunned, or if he was simply trying to control his anger. I quickly discovered that it was the latter.

"A game!" he screeched. "A GAME!" he furiously repeated. His brow lowered while his mouth formed a menacing scowl. "This is what you waste your time on, Saki!?" he screamed. "It's no wonder your grades are pathetic if you spend your time, rotting your brain on things like this!" My father paused for a moment, but only to think of more horrible things to say. "So, you spend money on this game?" he demanded an answer.

"Yes," the words were choked out of me.

"You moron! How dare you spend the money I entrusted you with on stupid games. And what's worse, your name is on there! Now everyone can see what an idiot my son is for wasting his time and money," he spat, completely offended. Tears were rushing to my eyes. I wanted to cry, I really did. But I knew that if I had cried, it would only make things worse. My father hated tears. He said it showed weakness. So I bit my lip, sucked in a deep breath and desperately tried to keep the tears at bay. "Since you're wasting my money, you won't be getting any more of it-"

"-But father!" I interrupted, but I quickly realized that I had no argument. The man had complete control over me.

"You won't receive any money for your chores. Which is how it should be. Back in my day, I never got any money. You children don't know how lucky you have it!" he sneered. I couldn't look him in the face any more. I felt ashamed at what I had done, but I also secretly knew that playing Space Invaders was the best thing that had happened to me in a while.

"Father?"

"Yes, Nagi?" the man said, calming down when he heard my brother's voice.

"I met girl today. Her name is Tang Shen," Nagi announced, changing the topic. I was grateful that he was taking away some of the heat and flak I had endured, but it was too little too late. I tuned out while they blathered on about how Nagi liked her, and how father offered to invite that woman to come over for dinner.

Later on that night, just when I was about to turn off the lights, Nagi came into my room and sat at the end of my bed. He gave me a smile while his brown eyes softened, making me feel completely at ease within his presence. It was the little things that made him a good brother. I looked at him curiously as I noticed he was holding one hand behind his back. "Saki? Hold out your hand," he instructed.

I was suspicious at first, but I knew he wouldn't do me any harm. So I timidly reached out towards him, palm outstretched and facing the ceiling. I gasped in surprise when he plopped some yen into my greedy little hand. "What's this for?" I asked even though I knew the answer.

"For that game you want to play," he said confidently.

"But what about father?"

"Saki… You've found something that you enjoy. No one should have the right to take that away from you," Nagi empathized.

"It's just a game," I muttered, feeling silly that I could get so obsessed with something so pointless.

"It doesn't matter what it is. It could be a game today or a girl tomorrow. But you shouldn't give up on what you enjoy."

"Is this about that girl you like? Tang Shen?" I wondered, hoping I had heard her name correctly.

"Partly. For a while I thought she didn't like me. Then one day I decided to just pursue her regardless. I could have just given up, but I didn't. Thank goodness I didn't, because it has now all paid off and we're dating," Nagi told his story. I listened intently to the lesson he was trying to teach me. That was what I liked the most about my brother – everything made sense when he was around.

"But what if father finds out?" I still wasn't comfortable with everything, even though I understood my brother's intentions.

"He won't find out if you don't let him find out," Nagi said with a sly wink. "And if he does… well I'll deal with him."

"Really!?" I was so excited. It was practically a 'get out of jail free' card. Nagi gave me another one of his gracious smiles, obviously pleased by my childish reaction.

"Saki, everything you do in life is practice. At the heart of it, it may be just a game, but by playing it, you are overcoming obstacles and defending what is important to you. One day, you might have to fight for something that you believe in, and having related past experiences will only make you stronger," Nagi gently lectured. I never took my eyes off him. I guess that was the only thing my father and I had in common – we were both proud of Nagi.

"Thank you, brother," I said, bowing my head out of respect. He gave me a little nod in return, before he gracefully stood up and silently left my bedroom.


	2. Darkness on the Edge of Town

**Chapter 2: Darkness on the Edge of Town.**

I viewed school the next day as simply a chore that needed to be completed before I could play _Space Invaders_ again. The game was the only thing in my young life that I looked forward to. So with a pocket full of yen and blessings and encouragement from my respected brother, you can imagine the amount of pure excitement I was experiencing. But nothing ever good happened at school.

I wasn't the only one who regularly played _Space Invaders_. Since it was the first arcade game to be released in our town, it is understandable that it became a popular place for young people to meet, compete and test their playing skills. The cinemas were also a popular location to waste away a person's after-school hours, but they were more expensive, and weren't interactive in a group setting.

So when I placed first in the crude arcade game, my achievement definitely didn't go unnoticed. One would think that others would congratulate me, and that I would be some kind of school yard legend, but back then, my life never went according to plan. There was a small group of boys in a few grades above me that were notorious for hopelessly failing their school subjects. Yet to make up for the amount of respect they had lost in the academic world, they regained some control in their lives by terrorizing and striking fear into other students. Yes, in many movies and television shows, there is always a bully or group of bullies being depicted in the typical playground scene. It wasn't until my teenage years when I realized that this image was generally considered to be stereotypical and cliché, as my school actually had them.

In an odd way, those boys had indeed gained the respect they had desired within the school. Some children even wanted to be like them, if only to avoid the undue pain caused if they were to oppose them. Just like any other, I used to loathe these older, uncouth boys, but now in hindsight, I understand why they resorted to bullying. It's all about reputation and respect.

"Oroku-kun!" One of the boys called to me. They knew my family name because of my brother. I should have just kept walking, but stupidly I stopped out of nervousness. I was alone at the time, as lunch had just started and I hadn't found my friends out in the school yard just yet.

"Yes?" I replied. For a brief moment I was ignorant enough to believe that they had stopped me for completely innocent reasons, like they wanted directions or the time.

"I saw your high score on _Space Invaders_," the leader of the gang spoke. He was only twelve-years-old, but to me, that boy was so tall and strong, that I might as well have considered him to be an adult. "It's pretty impressive," he slyly spoke. Slowly the group moved forwards, little by little, so that before I knew it, I had backed inadvertently into a wall. They continued to close in, so soon I had no way to escape.

I was confused. Were they congratulating me? Or were they jealous? "Thank you," I bowed deeply, hoping that my politeness would get me out of trouble. It rarely ever does.

"Too bad you knocked out Takeshi-san's ranking," the leader glowered, pointing to one of his friends. I glanced at Takeshi, and trust me, he didn't look that happy either; least of all proud of my achievement.

"I'm sorry," I apologetically bowed again.

"So now we just have to beat your score," the leader said. That was when I realized that they weren't jealous, but rather embarrassed. They didn't want a ten-year-old's name plastered all over their favorite place to hang out. Just like me, they didn't want to be viewed as a failure, even if it was just a game. "Are you going to play _Space Invaders_ this afternoon?" the tall boy cruelly asked.

"Maybe," I foolishly responded. I wasn't entirely sure what they were planning.

"Well, since you knocked off Takeshi's high score, and now he has to gain it back, I think it's only fair that you pay for the inconvenience," the leader spoke, probably imitating his favorite movie gangster. The boys closed in quickly and grabbed my arms.

"My brother is a member of The Foot!" I threatened them. When I was young, that line was always my one and only defense. Most of the time it worked and people stopped bothering me. Yet unfortunately for me, I had already given this empty threat to these boys before in my life, and this time they knew that there would be no consequences for their actions. So chuckling at my words, two of the boys pinned me up against the wall, while the leader ravaged my pockets, yanking out those precious coins that my brother had kindly donated. "Give it back!" I pathetically squealed. Getting bold I started to kick and buck, managing to hit one of the boys in the shin. Big mistake.

"Why'd you have to do that!" hissed the boy I had kicked. He retaliated by slapping me upside the head.

"Give me my money back!" I yelled at them, not giving up. Normally I wouldn't have really cared. But this money was my brother's, and I didn't want to disappoint him by losing his gift to immature thugs. It was the principle of the matter.

"Shut up!" the leader said while he looked up the corridor, fearful that a teacher might hear the commotion.

"Give it back!" I bucked my legs again while in their strong grasp. I only succeeded in irritating the leader. He grabbed the back of my head, threading his fingers through my fine, black hair. Painfully tugging on my head as though I was some mutt on a leash, the other boys let go of my arms and forced me to step away from the wall. It wasn't clear what happened next. All I remember is being pulled and pushed down that seemingly endless school corridor. My head ached as my hair was sharply tugged and rustled. Next I saw that I was in the bathroom. With some difficulty, all the boys grabbed onto a section of my legs and some of my waist, successfully lifting me up above the ground. I yelped out of shock as they forcefully carried me into a vacant cubicle and dipped my head into the toilet bowl.

I didn't have time to complain or to feel completely disgusted with what they were doing to me. I only had time to hold my breath before my forehead and eyes were submerged in the toilet water. I growled at their horrible antics and my hands gripped the sides of the bowl. They tried to hold my head down, but I pushed against the toilet with my hands. I wasn't scared anymore. Rather I was pissed off. Since I was positioned so much lower than them - with me kneeling in front of the toilet, while they were still standing over me - I eventually wiggled out of their grip and tackled the nearest set of legs I could find. That was another thing I shouldn't have done, as now they were angry as well. Being so low to the ground, it was just too easy for them to kick me in the ribs. I howled, and, blinded with pain and anger, I reached up, hoping to whack one of them in the head. But I was too slow.

The next thing I knew, my left eye was throbbing in agony. I hissed and put my hands to my face while my body sank back to the cold, tiled floor. They had punched me. I tried to open my eye, but at that moment it was just too painful. The bullies hurriedly thudded out of the bathroom, obviously not wanting to get caught in the act for what they had done. But they didn't have anything to fear. I was too embarrassed and emotionally devastated to report the incident to a teacher.

I stayed there, cuddled up in the cubicle, until lunch time was over. I just lacked the will power to get up and move. I was also waiting for my hair to dry. When the school bell rang, I groggily stood up; allowing blood to pump back into my pins-and-needles infested legs. Looking in the bathroom mirror, I remember being surprised that I wasn't worse for wear. I didn't have a black eye, as I had feared. Rather I just had a small, red graze just under the socket. Naturally it was tender to touch. Only one person commented on it later on in the school day, where I just had to make up some lame excuse about falling over or walking into a door or something. A part of me was beyond caring about what they thought of me. After all, I had just had my head dunked into a toilet. If my father thought that playing _Space Invaders_ was degrading, I couldn't comprehend what he'd think in response to this.

Luckily I never had to tell him the story. He simply never noticed. At dinner I made sure I kept my head down, I didn't contribute to the conversation, and I ate my food quickly so I could be excused from the table. I stayed in my room for the rest of the night. I thought I would have gotten away with it, but that was until I heard a knock at my door. "I'm studying!" I called out, hoping to deter them from entering.

There was a pause. Then my bedroom door was slid open regardless of what I had said. "Knew you weren't studying," Nagi said when he saw me sitting at the end of my bed. Silently he turned back around and closed my bedroom door, acting as though he wanted a private conversation. "So who punched you?" he asked once he had secured the room.

I was surprised. "How did you know?" There was no point trying to deny it.

"The shape and position of that red mark; the bruising. It's typical of being punched," Nagi analyzed.

I wanted to cry as I felt so ashamed of myself, but like most times I held it back. Instead I studied my brother's expression. He wasn't angry and intrusive. He was just concerned about my well being, just like a brother should be. How could I lie to him when he cared so much for me? "I was beat up at school today. They took the money you gave me, so they could play that game for themselves."

"Who's 'they'?" Nagi wondered. Personally I was expecting him to be more worried about the missing yen, but it seemed that I still had a lot to learn about my brother.

"This group of twelve-year-olds a few grades above me. They're the bullies of my school," I grumbled, feeling bitter about the situation. "They were angry with me because I wiped over one of their scores when I gained first place in _Space Invaders_," I gave a full explanation.

"Why didn't you just inform your teacher?" my brother wondered.

"Because other kids report these bullies all the time. The teachers tell off the bullies, but then they just hold a grudge and get you back the next day at lunch time," I sighed. To me the situation just seemed hopeless.

"I see," Nagi said. "So they took your money?" Nagi inquired, making sure he was clear with all the facts.

"Yes. I'm sorry," I mumbled. I couldn't even look Nagi in the eyes.

"Don't be sorry. It's not your fault. Besides, it's only money. I can give you some more later in the week," Nagi said as he sat beside me.

"But what about the bullies?" I asked, fearing that the whole sequence of events would only repeat itself.

"What did I say to you last night?" Nagi started to test me.

"That no one should get in the way of something that I enjoy doing?" I thoughtfully answered back, though I wasn't certain that my words were correct. Nagi gave me a nod and one of his warm smiles.

"Exactly. So next time those bullies bother you, just stand up to them." I frowned, as I was sure that Nagi's advice was flawed.

"But they're so much bigger than me! Can't you just find out where they live and scare them for me?" I asked, thinking that was the simplest solution. Nagi shook his head.

"I can't solve your problems all the time. Sometimes you just have to stick up for yourself. It may sound harsh now, but you'll thank me later in life when you will be able to stand up and deal with any problem that gets thrown your way," Nagi kindly lectured. Whenever my brother spoke to me, he used an unusual tone of voice, where although he might be telling me off, or trying to drill an idea into my head, he made it sound like he was doing me a favor. He made me _want_ to listen, unlike my father who just bellowed out profanities as an attempt to intimidate me.

"But what if they bash me again? It's just game. I don't think it's worth it." As convincing as my brother sounded, the tender skin around my eye that ached whenever I blinked, made me feel defeated and worthless.

"I _know_ it's just a game. But it's also your reputation on the line. In life, you can't let people treat you this way. If you let these bullies act this way around you, then they will just continue to do it. The only way they will stop bullying you is if you make it not worth their while," Nagi explained.

"But how?" I was confused. "Are you going to give me a weapon?" I wondered. Being a member of The Foot, Nagi naturally kept many weapons; most of them being housed in his bedroom. I was never allowed to handle them without his permission, otherwise my father would punish me severely. So instead I would sometimes stand just outside of his bedroom, poke my head in, and simply admire the shiny, well-kept weapons that were neatly lined up on shelves along one wall of the room. I liked the blade of his oriental katana the best.

Nagi raised his eyebrows, seeming to be surprised by the suggestion. "A weapon? No, no, no. That'll just get you into trouble!"

"But if a had a weapon in my hands, then they'll get scared and they'll run away." I was such a simpleton. It was no wonder that my brother was worried.

"Saki, your mind and body is a weapon," Nagi calmly told me. He interlocked his fingers and lowered his head deep in thought. I waited patiently for him to come up with a solution. "Well, since you don't want to tell your teacher… then I guess I'll have to teach you a few fighting moves," Nagi offered.

"So I can beat them?"

"No, but rather so you can show off a few moves to make them think twice about hurting Ninjitsu Master Oroku Saki!" Nagi grinned. I smiled at the title he gave me. My brother leapt off the bed and cleared some floor space in my room. Grateful for the amount of time he was spending on me, I excitedly got up and stood beside him. I followed his every movement as he went through the basic punches and kicks of ninjitsu. Either he was a good teacher, or I was simply a natural, but either way Nagi was proud of me.

My brother gave me more than most people had ever had, and that was hope. With his strength and encouragement, I faced school the next day not with fear, shame or resentment, but with contentment about the fact that I now had a secret weapon, and that was myself.

"Got any money for _Space Invaders_?" As I had expected, the bullies did approach me again, this time at recess.

"No," I answered truthfully before continuing to walk on. Although I was desperate to play the arcade game, Nagi had convinced me that it would be wise to wait a few days before bringing money to school again. He didn't seem to have much to spare anyway, because today he needed the yen so he could buy a present for his girlfriend. While a normal person may have been annoyed by the fact that their brother was spending the money on someone else, after all that Nagi had done for me the night before, I couldn't ask for anything more from him.

"Yeah right," the leader snorted in disbelief. As if that was their cue, the group of older boys rushed towards me. But I was prepared for this. I quickly whipped around to face them, readied my stance, raised my arms and clenched my fists. The boys halted, hesitating for a second. "What's this?" the leader uttered.

"My brother taught me a few moves last night," I boasted. To prove my point, I punched the air a few times before following up with a kick. Even though I had no hope of winning a fight against so many people, I covered my nervousness by putting on a brave face. Damn I wished I had a mask. "I don't have any money anyway," I added.

The leader warily looked at me for a few seconds, torn between either retreating and looking like a fool, or getting into a fight where they could all get hurt. Personally I think he remembered how much I struggled yesterday, and therefore if I was willing to put up a more decent fight today, then I really wasn't worth the effort, not when there were some fat geeks in the cafeteria that were easier sources of yen. "He doesn't have any yen," the leader finally muttered. "Lets go."

I just stood in amazement as the group of boys slowly walked off. I did it. I actually did it! Nagi was right – my mind and body was a powerful weapon. I was so exhilarated about my win, that at the end of the day, _Space Invaders_ wasn't even on my mind. I even almost forgot that I had to visit The Foot's dojo after school. Tuesday was when Nagi had to wash his Foot uniform; it was just the way it was. But since he was working there on Wednesday, it was always my job to visit the dojo, pick up the outfit, and rush it home so that my mother could wash and dry it in time ready for tomorrow.

I remembered what day it was when I was halfway home. Usually I would walk directly to the dojo from school. It was too late to turn around and head back so I could take that route, so instead I decided to improvise by cutting across some streets and alleyways. I had a basic idea of where I was going. Just when some of the streets were beginning to feel familiar again, I stopped as I heard some scuffling. I don't know what I was thinking. I must have thought it was an injured animal or something, as the noise made me curious enough to investigate. I now wish I hadn't.

Standing at the entrance of an alleyway, I saw a man fumbling and groping a woman. Being young, I didn't quite know what to make of it. At that age I didn't even know exactly what rape was. I had heard the word, usually in conjunction with murder, and I knew it was bad, but I was ignorant back then and I thought that those forbidden acts were committed in Japan's larger cities. Not in my town. Bullies and occasional slaps from my father were one thing, but this was a full-blown assault. Effectively, this was the first serious crime I had ever witnessed. I couldn't even fully comprehend what the man was doing, let alone make a critical decision. Should I walk away? Was it even possible for me to ignore what I had seen? Do I run and get help, even though the next person I find might be just as reluctant as me? Or do I personally intervene?

Unfortunately I didn't have much of a choice. The woman saw me, standing at the end of the alley, just gawking, and in her helpless frame of mind she frantically called to me for help. The rapist stopped and stared at me; first he was scared, but when he noticed my age, his face quickly turned sinister. "Get lost, kid," he warned. I really should have listened to him. But for some reason my legs felt incredibly heavy, as though they had been planted in amongst the grooves of the cobblestones. I was too shocked to run.

Realizing that I wasn't going to leave, the man threw the woman down the floor and angrily started to approach me. Without thinking, I entered the fighting stance that my brother had taught me the night before. Looking back now, I realize how nervous I must have been. My feet were spread too far apart; my arms weren't raised high enough to effectively protect my face, and my fists were sloppy and weren't properly clenched. But after knowing how exciting it was to win a fight due to my success over the bullies, some unreasonable voice from deep within just wanted to be the hero.

I don't think the man even knew I was in a fighting stance. In my nervousness, I punched too early when the thug was just barely out of my range. My first missed, while my second just tapped his stomach. I went for the kick, but I was way too slow. He caught my leg with one hand, causing me to hopelessly hop in order to maintain my balance. The man then yanked me forward, causing me to slip and fall. Once on the ground, he hammered his large fist into my head. I screamed in pain. My cries only forced him to repeat the action. Before I blacked out, I remember making a vow to myself – that I should never help anyone ever again.


	3. Grudge Match

**Chapter 3: Grudge Match.**

I couldn't open my eyes. I was awake, but I physically couldn't open my eyes to see. That was the first thing I remember. Naturally I started to panic. My body jolted in fear, and to my surprise, as my other senses started to kick in, I realized that I was still in that alleyway. The ground I was laying on was hard and cold, and beneath my shaking and sweating fingertips I could feel the gritty particles of dirt and dust within the crevices of the cobblestones. I breathed heavily through my mouth, since my nose was filled with my own blood. I must have realized all this within the space of a second, since it didn't take long for my observer to respond.

"He's waking up!" a man to said to someone unknown. I flinched slightly when I felt his hands enclose around my head. My throbbing skull was gently lifted off the ground and what I presumed was a jacket was placed under me, so I didn't have to rest my head on the hard floor.

"I can't see!" I panicked.

"Your eyes are swollen shut," he calmly informed me. Frightened, I lifted my hands to my face and hissed as I touched the tender area. The man carefully pulled my hands away, fearing that I may unintentionally hurt myself. "Stay still," he instructed. I gasped as I felt something sharp enter the skin above my eye. The feeling was then repeated on the other side. I shivered as some warm liquid dribbled down the sides of my face. Later I learned that he had made an incision to reduce the swelling and that the liquid was my own blood and pus. "Can you see?" the man wondered.

Slowly my eyelids began to rise. My vision was blurry, so I blinked a few times, but eventually I could keep them open long enough to absorb my surroundings. I observed a man, no older than my own brother, crouched down by my side. A few feet away was a slender and petite woman, and even though I was way too young at that age to be thinking of girls, I thought that she was quite pretty. "My name is Hamato Yoshi," the rather well-built man introduced himself with a calming smile. "And this is my girlfriend Tang Shen." The name rang a bell, but at that moment my head was too convoluted to try and remember where I had heard about her before. My focus was immediately shifted back onto Yoshi when he asked me a question. "What is your name?" the man repeated, as I didn't properly comprehend his words the first time he pronounced them.

"Oroku Saki," I said. As I spoke, a few drops of blood flowed down the back of my nasal passage and trickled around the back of my throat, causing me to enter a couching fit. Yoshi wrapped his arms around me and lifted me up into sitting position to see if that would help. It did.

"Oroku-san?" Yoshi murmured to himself. "Are you related to Oroku Nagi?" he questioned. With my throat still sore and irritated, all I dared to do was nod in response. "Hurry! He still might be at the dojo!" Yoshi urgently instructed the woman. Not needing to hear anything more, the woman named Tang Shen started to run in the direction of the Foot training quarters.

I tilted my head back, suddenly feeling rather woozy. "I know your brother," Yoshi started to say, making mindless small talk. "He's a good fighter. We're both ninjitsu instructors, so I see him quite often when we have meetings," he told me, but I didn't care. I was too focused on breathing deeply in the hopes that I would stop feeling nauseated. The last thing I wanted to was to vomit all over myself. "Hey, stay in there, okay?" Yoshi rubbed my upper arms a little, hoping that would keep me awake. "Tell me a little about yourself," he ordered. The calmness in his voice had been replaced by worry. Groggily I sighed while I tried to think of what to say. I closed my eyes out of tiredness, and when I opened them again, he was gone.

Shocked, I blinked once and then twice. The alleyway had faded and now I was lying on a soft bed in a sterile hospital room. My mind whirled in confusion, as I honestly believed that only a second or two had passed, but obviously my conception of time was horribly wrong. My mother was the first to discover that I had woken up. I had never seen her so excited in my life, at least not within my presence. With her eyes brimming with tears of joy, she corralled my father and brother into the room as soon as they were available. Once all of the heightened emotions had died down, my parents informed me of what the doctor had told them. Apparently I had had a concussion. Sections of my hair had been shaved and my head had been bandaged, as I had a few open wounds over my scalp – all of which needed stitches. Along with sustaining head injuries, my nose had been broken. Thankfully the swelling around my eyes had greatly been reduced due to the incisions Hamato Yoshi had made, even though I needed two stitches over those cuts as well.

Time in the hospital, I must admit, was incredibly mind numbing and forgettable. It was my brother who would visit me the most, taking the time to either advise me on life or to tell me about what had been happening within the confines of the Foot. I appreciated him spending the time with me, as without him, I would be left all alone with my only company being my own bitterness about what I had done the day I was injured.

After a week in hospital, I learnt the torturous truth that I must face another week due to some complications in the healing process. Missing so much of school, some of my friends made a point of visiting me at least once. The one who visited me the most often was my friend Nobu. He was a quiet boy who spent most of his time both inside and outside of class reading manga. Because of his silent and detached disposition, at first I was taken aback by the fact that he was visiting me, but I quickly realized that he had the perfect solution as to how I spend my time. Nobu's father was a wealthy businessman, who had made the smart decision to invest and work alongside American companies. Being close friends with the Americans and conversing with them on a regular basis, one such business partner gave Nobu's father a stack of Superman comics. "A present for your son," as they had described it. Obviously Nobu's father had jokingly described what an obsessed nut his son was with manga during a casual lunch meeting. The comics were in English, but that didn't matter to my friend. Unlike my father, Nobu's father encouraged his son to learn English, since to him it was obvious that the future of business lay with the United States of America.

So Nobu, like an excited little child, showed his proud and growing comic book collection to me. I could only ever stare at the illustrations, but Nobu was more than glad to try and tell me what was happening within the dialogue. Personally I believe that Nobu was just thankful that he had a captive audience to discuss his most beloved topic. At first I used to groan at his excitable babbling, but soon I grew attached to the story. I remember discussing many trivial things such as the limits to Superman's powers and how he could have time to both save the world from its problems _and_ date the rather demanding Lois Lane. However as time went on, the more issues I flicked through with Nobu, the more I grew tired of the classic super hero. He was just too perfect. Too powerful. Instead I became fascinated by the villain, Lex Luthor. What I liked about him was that despite the fact that Superman was the most powerful being on the planet, Lex Luthor would stand up to him, never fearful and never backing down. He was just a man, completely opposite to the protagonist. To think that he would come so far with such defiance inspired me. Nobu thought it was odd that I would like the villain better than the hero, but to me my friend never seemed to appreciate what Lex represented. But I did.

Despite the odds stacked against me, I left hospital two days earlier than expected. I remember being asked the same question over and over again at school as to what happened to me, as though I had suddenly become public property. My newfound 'fame' irritated me at first, but soon I began to appreciate the idea that I was the topic of conversation. Yet the greatest change wasn't found with my classmates, but instead with my father.

Since the attack, it seemed that my father took the time to cherish me as his son – to be so grateful for what he had, since through experiencing some parental paranoia, he realized that I could easily become lost one day, never to return. To be honest, I wasn't used to his kindness. Some days I believed he was simply mistaking me for Nagi. But he was only trying to be more of a prominent father figure in my life. He wanted his presence to be felt and remembered throughout my aging years. I guess he just wanted what everyone wanted out of life – to impact on another, as without being remembered for something, anything, we eventually leave this world without making our little mark… or dent. And to what would be the purpose of life without our little dents in time?

Unfortunately my father was never used to change. The perfect example of his perpetual, underlying human nature occurred a fortnight after being released from the hospital. For the first time in a long while, my father trusted me with a pile of yen. Because of the attack and with my brother being so concerned about my health, Nagi had decided to postpone inviting Tang Shen to a family dinner. Once again that woman's name felt familiar to me, but I could never make the connection as to who she was, even though it felt like it was at the tip of my tongue. To this day, I still feel so foolish for not foreseeing the future.

But after pushing the date of the evening dinner back further and further on the calendar, the night had finally been set for tonight. The yen my father had given me was part of an errand, where it would be my important mission to go down to the corner store and buy the groceries that would be needed to make the feast. He also told me that I could keep the change. I did what I was told and bought the best quality fish on the market, however on the way home I had to pass the store where my favorite arcade game, _Space Invaders,_ was housed. I shouldn't have stopped. My mission was so simple - just buy the food then get home so that my mother could start cooking dinner. Yet I couldn't help myself. Being in that gaming zone made me feel alive. It was the activity that I was good at, my purpose, and I couldn't simply walk away from it. I needed to pay my electronic friend a little visit.

I knew I had made a mistake as soon as I had stepped through the door of that building. The gang of bullies from school were there, surrounding and congratulating their friend Takeshi as he played _Space Invaders_. I wanted to slink back outside, but I faltered, as I wanted to know what they were doing with the game I had dominated. It didn't take long for one of the boys to spot me observing them. After tapping his friends on the shoulder, soon everyone was staring back at me.

"Well look who's here," the leader of the gang chimed. "Are you planning on playing _Space Invaders_?" He crossed his arms in an attempt to intimidate me through his overconfidence. It almost worked, except that I remembered what my brother had told me. I shouldn't have to give up the things I love. I needed to defend and protect my reputation. So I suppressed my desire to simply mumble a few words and wander off, by instead puffing in a deep breath and deciding to talk back.

"Of course I'm here to play," I boldly answered. With a smirk on his face, the leader glanced at his friends, as though he needed their consensus on how this conversation would end.

"Go home," he sneered. "There's no point playing this game now. Takeshi-san has the top score. There's no way you're going to beat him," the boy boasted. I felt a defiant spark light up deep within my body. It was the drive to prove them wrong. It couldn't end like this. I wanted to see their scowls of disappointment when I obliterated their pathetic high score – to see them give me the respect that I deserved; that in the gaming arena, I wasn't one who could be pushed around. My reputation was on the line.

"Wanna bet?" I slyly answered. The leader gave me an indignant look, as obviously he preferred me to just give up and disappear. Personally I was afraid that they were all going to pin me down and steal the rest of my yen, but in the other boys I could observe a glimmer of curiosity in seeing me take the challenge. Once again the leader looked at his comrades as though he needed their approval.

"Step aside. Let him play," he announced. As the group of older boys moved to the right of the beloved machine, I nervously stepped forward, gently placed the plastic-bagged groceries down to the left, and took a hold of the joystick with my sweaty palm. I was so nervous that my other hand was shaking so violently that it could barely slip into my tight pocket in order to pull out the correct coins to play. But once I plopped that yen into the arcade game, I started to relax. I knew this. I knew what I was doing. My main motivation was to prove them wrong – to show that I, Oroku Saki, was no push over.

I must have played for over an hour, but I can't really be certain. Time loses itself when in an intense battle. At first the boys watching over my shoulder would blurt out words in the hopes of startling me into making a mistake, but that was a pitiful tactic, one that I could easily ignore. After ten minutes, it was Takeshi who stopped his friends from being so annoying, as he wanted this to be a fair battle for the high score listings – a way to test his own greatness and answer once and for all who was better at _Space Invaders_.

It wasn't long till my wrist became sore from constantly flicking it back and forth. My mind kept wandering off, thinking about the most mundane things. But I managed to stay focused and kept shooting. I think my intense concentration rubbed off onto the other boys, as soon they were also glued to that black-background screen, flinching as a secondary reaction to its crude, pixelated graphics. My entire body was shivering with excitement. I almost couldn't contain my enjoyment and transfer it to the game in front of me. Then the tiredness started to settle into my joints and eyelids. I knew I needed to get home. A part of me wanted me to hurry up and make an irreversible mistake, and yet the stronger part of me wasn't willing to sacrifice this opportunity.

Eventually the inevitable happened. My spaceship flashed in despair when it was hit one too many times. Finally it was game over. But all the physical pain and mental torment paid off when the high score screen popped up with a blank space in the first place position. I couldn't stop grinning. I did it! After frantically tapping in my name, I quickly turned around so I could see the crushed faces of my enemies, but instead I came face to face with my angry father. It seemed that out of worry for my long absence, my father had spent the last ten minutes searching the neighborhood for me. The gang of boys were still there, only now they were off to one side, fearfully looking at the enraged adult that stood in front of me.

Without thinking my father slapped me across the head. I instantly hissed and cowered in pain as I could feel my old wounds sting. My father quickly realized his impulsive mistake and for a second there was a hint of fear in his eyes. But that look quickly dissipated, as though he promised himself that he would simply refrain to verbal assault instead. "You stupid boy!" he violently declared. "Stupid, stupid boy!" he spat. "Why are you wasting your time playing this game!?" He pointed towards _Space Invaders_ as though it was an evil fiend that needed to be destroyed.

"I, I thought you said that I could spend the rest of the yen on whatever I wanted?" I protested. I should have interpreted his last sentence as a rhetorical question, but my head was stinging too much for me to be wise enough to simply close my mouth.

"But not on _this_!" he bellowed. I lowered my head in shame, knowing I had gone against his harsh will. I could tell that he wanted to say more about the subject, but he refrained from doing so. Other customers in the store had stopped to eavesdrop and quietly observe our altercation. My father didn't want to make a spectacle of ourselves and to be the talk of the town. "Pick up the food," he commanded. Obediently I bent down and gathered up the weighty plastic bags, feeling completely ashamed of myself. "Let's go home," my father quietly ordered. In his eyes, I could almost see his anger simmering inside. Not trusting me to follow, he grabbed my upper arm and yanked me into step behind him. As I was pulled through the doors of the shop, I took one long last glance at the arcade game that I had grown to love, just knowing that this time I would never play it again.


	4. Fallen Angel

Fanfic notes - I've decided to do a few experiments with my summary, out of curiosity and for my own enjoyment. I figure I don't have anything to lose by doing so. Also, this is the second to last chapter. Hopefully it won't be too long till I post the finale.

**Chapter 4: Fallen Angel**

I sulked in my bedroom for what was left of the gloomy afternoon. To occupy my mind, I engaged myself with pointless and meticulous tasks, deciding to arrange my books into alphabetical order. Once the domineering and hurtful voice of my father had been pushed to the back of my mind, I started to perk up a bit, relishing the memories of the very last game I played of _Space Invaders_. Reminiscing, I could still feel that excitement burning deep inside of me – the rush, the adrenaline.

"Saki!" I could hear my father anxiously call for me. My trip down memory lane suddenly ceased, as though I had been violently pulled away by my father for the second time that day. "Saki!" I heard him call again, this time more angrily. I stood up from my bookcase, slid open my bedroom door and walked into our dining room. I halted in my tracks when I noticed my whole family gathered there, including a young woman. I blinked, surprised that I actually recognized her. She was the lady who was with Hamato Yoshi the day I was beaten in the alleyway. "Where's your manners?" my father asked when I had stayed still for one second too long. Immediately I bowed, causing the woman to give a slightly amused expression at my strained and confused antics.

"We've met before," Tang Shen gently explained. "I'm Tang Shen. Do you remember me Saki-kun?" Shen wondered.

"Yes. Thank you for helping me that day," I replied, bowing once again just to make sure I pleased my father with my manners.

"You were of great assistance to my son," my father thanked Tang Shen. He was so wrapped up with an excitable sense of fascination; so desperate to make the woman feel welcome. I inwardly groaned. My father was always like this when Nagi brought home a girlfriend. My brother had only been through two very short relationships before, one only lasting a week. But nevertheless of how meaningless or undeveloped their connection was, my father was always keen to keep his hopes high. "She's the one," I've heard him say twice before about the other girls, as though he was some hopeless, gossiping character from a romance novel. The worst part was that his curiosity overtook his common sense, so when a girl came to visit, he just wouldn't leave her alone. Tang Shen didn't come to my house that night primarily to meet my parents, even though they did want to thank her about how she assisted me. No. She came to get to know Nagi a little better. But with my father being so pedantic about keeping up appearances and being welcoming to the 'future bride', there was absolutely no chance that Shen and Nagi would have a decent conversation with each other. My father was just so _suffocating_.

"I didn't do that much. I was just lucky that I found Nagi," Tang Shen humbly replied.

"No, you saved my son's life! I'm so glad that you found him and he wasn't discovered by some random stranger instead. If that happened, then who knows how long it would have been before we were contacted. I mean, what a coincidence it was that you were nearby!" my father continued to blather on.

"I really didn't do that much. Hamato Yoshi should receive all the credit. He's the one who gave Saki-kun first aid," Tang Shen once again remained modest. Her words finally sparked to life that memory that was stalled in my brain for the past few days. Something had been subconsciously plaguing me, and now I knew for certain what it was… Hamato Yoshi had introduced Tang Shen as his girlfriend.

I bit my lip out of anxiousness not knowing what it all meant. Did Yoshi mean that Shen was just a friend of his, who also happened to be a girl? Was I reading everything too deep? Or should I tell my brother? Once again my mind was plagued, not with déjà vu, but this time with indecisiveness. I was so focused on the questions in my mind that I didn't even notice myself absentmindedly following my family to the dinner table. Throughout that night, I felt like I flitted to and from reality; sometimes actually listening to the conversation taking place in front of me, and sometimes simply listening to the many questions packed within my bamboozled brain.

"Nagi told me that you work at a flower shop," I heard my father ask the rhetorical question sometime throughout the night.

"Indeed I do," Shen answered with a nod.

"She works at the shop that's two blocks away," Nagi finally managed to say something in the conversation that was primarily owned and drenched by my father.

"Ah, I know that one. It is a very well kept store. I always find the freshest roses there," my father gave another compliment, still keeping up pleasantries.

"Thank you for your kind words," Shen said with a polite bow of her head.

"You must work very hard there to keep such a high standard," my father assumed. The conversation stopped for a moment as my mother brought out a dish of nicely cooked fish. I waited till Shen and Nagi filled their bowls before I dug into the food, otherwise my father would have whacked my chopsticks out of my hand and scolded me for being rude and discourteous in front of our guest. It might sound extreme, but my father had done it to me before.

With my mother joining the table, and after taking a few bites of her delicious cooked meal, the conversation started up once again, with my father, as always, taking control of everything. Tuning out of his mind-numbing drivel, I started to focus my attention on the couple themselves. After staring at their reactions and body language for a while, I started to wonder if it was just me, or if Shen seemed completely disinterested? Sure, it could have been because my father had been wearing her down with his constant questioning, but there still didn't seem to be a spark of affection coming from Shen's eyes. Being only ten, I knew at the time that I was far from being a relationship expert, but I still received the feeling that Shen didn't enjoy my brother's company. It might have been the way she tended to lean away from Nagi, or how she wouldn't direct any of her words towards him, or show any interest, really. She just seemed to be _there_, going through the motions of dating as though it was a test of endurance.

Of course, I felt the same way with Nagi's previous dates, but they were arranged by my father so naturally they never showed any immediate interest anyway. But since this time Nagi had picked the girl himself, one would expect there to be something more. In fact, that was probably why my father was being more engrossed than usual. Since his first two matchmaking sessions had failed, causing him to start the planning process all over again, he was no doubt curious about the woman Nagi had picked by himself, which forced him to abort whatever dating arrangements he had already made with another family. My father was a man who had always preferred marriages to be arranged, but since he liked Nagi so much, he didn't mind the idea of my brother dating out of love. So in this scenario, it worried me greatly that Tang Shen just didn't seem too thrilled.

It was a completely different story with Nagi. He was enjoying himself the entire night. He placed his hand close to hers; never touching, but always there. He would also look at her frequently, and was completely engrossed with the trivial conversation my father was holding. It was clear even to me that Nagi was in love with her, and by looking at his adoring expression, I admit that I was happy for him, even though the thought that everything was one-sided was niggling at my mind.

Shen's visit was an unexpectedly long one. I had to excuse myself from the table so I could get ready for bed, as I had school the next morning. I entered a shallow sleep for a half-hour, being woken up when I heard my brother enter his bedroom. I don't know why, but I felt compelled to speak with him in private. Still groggy from my short sleep, I quietly walked to his room.

At first my brother seemed concerned that I was still awake, but nevertheless he was pleased to see me. "So what did you think of Tang Shen?" Nagi asked me the most obvious question.

"I don't know…" I trailed off, tiredly wondering if I should speak my mind.

"What do you mean?" Nagi inquired.

"She's a nice lady, but… I'm not sure if she really likes you," I said, unsure of what Nagi's reaction would be.

He sighed and paced a few steps around his room, taking the time to admire some of his weapons that were hung like ornaments on the walls. "I used to think that as well, but now I know that she does like me."

"How do you know?" I started to wonder if Nagi hadn't told me the whole story about his girlfriend.

"Do you remember what I said to you about not giving up the things you enjoy?" Nagi recalled a past conversation we had. I remembered it clearly. It was the night that he had offered me yen to play _Space Invaders_ after my father had forbidden me.

"Yes. As an example, you told me about Tang Shen, about how you didn't give up when she first turned you down," I remembered.

"What you have to understand is that Tang Shen is a very desirable lady. She had many suitors," Nagi started to explain.

"Like Hamato Yoshi?" I asked.

"Yes, I believe he was interested in her as well," Nagi answered after some thought. He decided to continue on with his story rather than inquiring as to how I knew about Hamato Yoshi. "So as you can imagine, I had lots of competition. But I liked her – I really liked her, and I wasn't going to allow other people to come in the way of me obtaining some form of peace and happiness."

"So what did you do?" I wanted to hear more of the story.

"Well at first I was treated like any of the other guys that asked her out. But I persisted. Everyday I used to walk to her flower shop and buy one of the roses for her. Of course, I was rejected many times. But after a fortnight of asking, she finally accepted," Nagi retold with a smile on his face. "So out of all those other men, she chose me. That's how I know that she likes me. She may not show it all the time because she's quite a reserved girl, but I know she does." Nagi said it with such conviction that I just had to believe him.

"I think I understand now," I told him. With fatigue really starting to settle in, my eyes began to blink more often, causing me to rub them as though that would help me in staying awake.

"That's good," Nagi agreed to my last comment. He frowned slightly when he saw me trying to stifle a yawn. "You look tired. You should head back to bed," he advised me like any big brother would.

"Yeah," I quietly agreed. I turned to leave, but I was stopped when Nagi rested one hand on my shoulder.

"Before you do, I want to give you something," Nagi said. Intrigued, I decided to stay a few moments longer. I wearily watched as Nagi started to rummage through a few of his drawers. When he found what he wanted, he cheerily returned to my side, gently picked up my hand, and plopped a number of small items into my hand. It was some yen.

"What's this for?" I wondered, too tired to work it out for myself.

"For that game you like. It's something that you enjoy, and nobody should stop you from playing that," Nagi repeated his saying with another one of his smiles. I wondered if Nagi knew what had happened earlier that day with my father dragging me from the store. Nevertheless, I accepted his present and mustered up a little smile in return.

Once school was over the next day, I walked to the store that housed _Space Invaders_, only to stand outside in a fit of uncertainty. Like always I longed to play it and I could feel that excitement building up inside of me again. Yet I knew that if I was caught, then I would anger my father again. But despite the nagging feeling of fear, I was also experiencing some disinterest towards the game as well. I proven myself time and time again, even in front of my worst enemies – those bullies from school. So did I really need to keep playing? If I played the game again and received a lower score than what I did before, then would I only succeed in disappointing myself? Should I leave it alone and finish on a high note?

After thinking it all through, I discovered that I just didn't want to spend my time and energy _on Space Invaders_. I knew I would get the desire to play it again sometime in the future, but for that particular day, I decided to finally take a break from it. So there I was, outside with a good forty minutes of free time, still with Nagi's yen in my pocket. Despite turning my back on the game, I still appreciated what my brother had done for me. So I decided to do something special for Nagi instead.

I remembered what my brother had told me the previous night about how he used to buy roses for Tang Shen. Willing to be labeled as 'cute' for the sake of my brother, and recalling the store location of where his girlfriend worked, I thought it would be a sweet idea if I bought a rose from her shop. I would then act as though I was on a not-so-surprise errand from my brother who wanted to hint that he was going to do something romantic. Admittedly that probably meant that I had unwillingly committed Nagi into doing more work, but it was the best idea I could come up with at the time. For some reason, I was just compelled to spend the yen on something as I felt it would be a waste of Nagi's gift if I simply did nothing and saved it up.

Familiar with the area around my house, I found the florist shop quite easily. It was a smooth, simple, white-painted building, complete with large glass windows at the front and a few potted flowers on display just outside. Getting slightly nervous, I stopped by the glass windows while I tried to figure out what I was going to say. Yet I never got that far. In fact, I never even entered. While staring at a few of the dazzling flowers that were displayed within the store, right in front of the shop window, some movement from inside eventually caught my attention.

Shocked and surprised, I instinctively ran back around to the corner of the building. Did I really see who I thought it was? To be certain, I knew I had to have another look, but I couldn't let them see me. So acting like some sneaky action hero in the movies, I pressed by back up against the wall and edged around to where the large glass windows were. Despite my efforts, I wasn't stealthy. Any untrained fool would have clearly seen my head poking out from the side of the window. But luckily the two people inside were too distracted to notice me peering in.

My heart sunk when my suspicions were correct. Inside was Tang Shen and Hamato Yoshi. Although that in itself wasn't note-worthy, the fact that they were openly affectionate towards each other was something that completely set off the little alarm bells in my head. I watched as Tang Shen watered some of her plants while Yoshi approached her from behind and lovingly wrapped his arms around her waist. They then started to slowly sway, as though they were dancing to some invisible tune within their own fantasies. Several times Yoshi would whisper something in her ear, causing the woman to stifle her giggling by covering her mouth with her spare hand. I started to fool myself into thinking that maybe it all wasn't as bad as it looked, but that perception changed once Tang Shen pivoted around to give Hamato Yoshi a brief but romantic kiss on the lips.

There was no denying what I had seen. It was all so obvious. I was still shocked, as I had only ever once before seen people act this way, and that was with two young teenagers who were feeling the drunken-like effects of puppy love. There was more affection shared between Yoshi and Shen than that of my own parents. So either the couple thought they were completely in private considering that there were no other customers in the flower shop, or they just didn't care if others saw their love for one another. It would be foolish for me to pass off, ignore or excuse their actions, especially when they were so direct.

My legs shook with nervousness as I walked home. I knew I had to tell Nagi, even though I dreaded delivering bad news. But if I didn't do it, then what sort of brother would I be? My anxiousness only doubled when I arrived home to discover that Nagi was at the Foot's dojo still training. So for a few hours all I could do was wait and wonder how he would accept the news, if at all.

He came home just before dinnertime. He was still wearing his Foot uniform and his face still contained the beads of sweat that he had gained through his intense workout. He noticed my motionless presence as he walked to his bedroom. "How did your game go?" Nagi asked quietly, not wanting my father to accidentally overhear our conversation.

"I didn't play," I weakly muttered. I could feel those butterflies twirling in my stomach and yanking at my intestines. Slightly confused and obviously wanting to know more, he gently ushered me into his room so we could hold a more private chat.

"Why not?" he wondered, almost sounding really concerned. I think he could see the fear in my eyes.

"I wanted to buy something for you instead and…" I didn't know how to finish my sentence.

"And?" Nagi had to prompt me.

"And I went to the flower shop that Shen-san works at, so I could buy one of her roses. I thought that you could give it to her later," I rapidly spurted out.

"Oh… Thank you," Nagi said, thinking that was the end of it. He was obviously taken aback by the gesture.

"But I never got it," I quietly continued. It was too late to turn back now. My heart thumped, knowing that my future words would hurt my brother.

"I don't understand… So what happened?"

"When I got there, I saw Shen-san with Hamato Yoshi," I nervously reported. I watched as my brother's face turned from being confused, to downright suspicious and alarmed.

"What do you mean by '_with'_?" Nagi wanted me to speak plain.

"They were together. Holding each other… kissing," I finally came out with it. My brother took a step back, as though the revelation had been so shocking that it had caused him to regain his balance.

"_Kissing_?" He couldn't believe it even though he knew that I would never lie to him, least of all about this.

"Back when Hamato Yoshi rescued me, he introduced Shen-san as his girlfriend. I thought nothing of it at the time, and for a while I forgot about it completely. I'm sorry…" I apologized for being so unobservant and not telling him the devastating news earlier.

"But… it can't be…" he was still in denial.

"I'm sorry," I repeated.

"Are you sure about what you saw?" He asked, now wanting to get all the facts straight.

"Yes," I whispered, saddened by the horrible truth. After hearing my answer, Nagi started to pace around the room, as though he had to clear his head and control his growing anger.

"I had a feeling…" he muttered. The anger was starting to build up. His fists clenched and unclenched, as though he was unsure whether he should contain or unleash his sudden fury. "I knew it! I knew Hamato Yoshi was up to something!"

"What?" I was confused.

"He was always hanging around her. I thought they were just friends," he explained to me while he continued to pace. "How could I have been so stupid!?" With that, he punched the air out of frustration.

"You're not stupid, brother," I said, hating the fact that he was beginning to blame himself. He stopped to look at me. I don't know what he was thinking, but my guess is that he saw a worried little boy in front of him – a boy who thought the world of his older brother. Nagi never did like to let me down. He was my role model, and he knew that he had to set an example.

"I'm going to sort this out," he calmly said, as though all of his anger was now bundled up into a tiny space within his body, just waiting to leak out and explode. His eerie, sudden placidity terrified me a little, but I knew his feelings of anger weren't without cause.

"How?" I uttered, now getting worried about what he was planning.

"I'm just going to speak to her," he muttered.

"Are you going to ask her?" I rhetorically asked, not even thinking anymore about the words that were freely popping out of my open mouth.

"Why not? Why not demand a direct, straight answer about what's going on? She was direct with Yoshi-san, not leaving anything to the imagination!" he sputtered, once again only barely containing his anger. His sudden change in emotions from calm to furious terrified me once again. It was a side of him I had never seen before. Then again, there had been no valid reason for that part of him to exist before now.

Nagi must have noticed my worried expression. He paused for a few seconds, took a deep breath, and let some of his pent-up fury subside. "I'm not going to do anything stupid," he assured me. My brother's words instantly soothed me, as I knew that he spoke the truth and that my fears were partially unfounded. After all, he was the kindest person I knew.

"You have to fight for what you love and enjoy," I recalled one of my brother's past lessons. Hearing those words come from me elicited a small smile from Nagi.

"That's right," he nodded, speaking softly. "That's why I have to confront this problem head on. Only then will I know if it's a love worth fighting for," he sighed, almost becoming symbolic with his words. As he was about to leave, he stopped, turned around and looked me in the eyes. There was only sincerity and appreciation. "Thank you for telling me," he bowed.

"What's a brother for?" I weakly shrugged. He nodded and continued to head on his way, walking towards the front door. For some reason I felt scared again, as though something foreboding was going to happen. I wanted to stop him, to block his path, but I didn't know why. Then I remembered his sincere face, and how he assured me that everything would be okay. So I stood there and did nothing, while I comforted my confusing and unfounded fears. Unfortunately I should have obeyed my intuition, as that was the last time I saw my brother alive.


	5. The Shredder Strikes

Fanfic notes - This is the final chapter of Space Invaders. As some of you may have assumed already, this chapter will be significantly darker and more merciless than the rest. I hope you have all enjoyed reading my fic and I thank you for waiting patiently for me to update.

Chapter 5: The Shredder Strikes

I felt queasy. My brother never returned that night. He never returned home at all. My parents assumed he was just out late with his friends, or was still with Tang Shen. I didn't tell them the conversation that had passed between Nagi and I, as I wasn't sure if the two events were connected, and if they were, then I didn't want to upset my parents about the truth of Tang Shen. So instead I just convinced myself that everything was fine and I went to bed with that false hope. Yet I couldn't sleep. I just lay there like a shell of boy, neither awake or in a state of slumber. My mind was too busy to rest.

Suddenly I could hear someone murmuring. It took a while for me to realize what was going on because I was disoriented from being half-asleep, but I eventually figured out that there was someone at the door speaking to my parents. In shock, I opened my eyes and looked at the time, wondering who would visit my house at such a late hour. I hesitated getting out of bed for a moment, and a minute later, I heard the guest leave. All that remained was the sound of my parents' whispers.

I pulled down my covers and crawled out of bed, my skin tightening upon feeling the chill of the night. Even though it had been a reasonably warm day, my house was still cold. Slowly I tiptoed to my bedroom door and slid it open just a little bit. My parents were just down the hall. I poked just a part of my face around the doorframe so that I could spy on them, and to my surprise I found my mother weeping. My father had his arm outstretched, touching the wall, as though he needed balance himself. "Should we tell Saki?" my mother managed to whisper. My father didn't move. His head hung low, eyes focused on our wooden floorboards. Eventually he shook his head.

"Not until morning," he replied in a voice that seemed stricken with grief.

What had happened? What weren't they telling me? Hearing their brief conversation only caused a sense of panic to rise up within me. Now I definitely wouldn't be able to sleep. Something had happened to Nagi, I just knew it.

Bravely I slid my door open all the way and stepped out into the gloomy hallway. My parents seemed startled by my appearance. There was a sense of fear etched onto their sorrowful faces. It frightened me to see them both like that, especially my father. "What has happened? Who was at the door?" I weakly asked as I felt my gut tighten. My mother looked to my father for an answer as she was still clearly at a loss for words.

"Your brother, Nagi, he… he won't be returning home," my father sadly whispered. My heart pumped fearfully, almost painfully, as I realized that my instinctual fear might actually be real.

"He's, he's dead?" I managed to utter. Tears formed in my eyes and this time I didn't care about hiding them in front of my father.

"Yes." I could hear my father's answer while he let out a deep breath of sorrow. "It's suspected he was murdered by Hamato Yoshi. He and Tang Shen have fled already." Now I could hear the anger and resentment in my father's voice. In all of this I just stood there at my doorway, dumbfounded by the news. In that moment, I felt completely alone.

I was now an only child.

I stayed there for what felt like hours. I was so tired, but there was no way I would have been able to sleep. What happened from then on, in that agonizing bleakness of reality, is a blur to me now. All I can remember is the sheer emptiness.

Meals around the dinner table were never the same again. For a while all I could sense were my parents' feelings of loss and hopelessness. I could feel my father's sorrow as he gazed despairingly at me, for I was now his only son and therefore the one to carry on the family name. And yet he saw me as a failure; a boy merely a shadow of my brother's greatness.

It was like that for days. No speaking during meals, just devastating glances. It was only when I could grab a hold of my grief was I able to stand up in front of my father. Being the heir of the household, now was the time to accept my responsibility. "I want to join the Foot," I told my father one night. He genuinely looked surprised at my announcement.

"No one is expecting you to do that, Saki," my father spoke quietly. His comment was neither right nor wrong. True, _he_ wasn't expecting me to join the great ninjitsu clan, but at the same time he was ashamed that he couldn't be more proud of me.

"But I want to. I want to bring honor to this household…" I paused for a moment before I added, "I want to bring honor to my brother."

I watched as my father screwed up his face in agony as he heard me mention Nagi. Repressing his emotions, he haphazardly stabbed at his food with his chopsticks. "You want to bring honor to this household?" It was more of a rhetorical question, but it certainly gained my interest. Unbeknownst to me, his next few words shaped my life forever. "Then avenge your brother and bring justice!"

I knew that my father was simply emotional with irrational thoughts, but that idea never left my mind. We knew more of the facts about Nagi's death now, except the actual events that had led up to his demise would forever remain a mystery. It had been confirmed that Hamato Yoshi had murdered my brother and that straight after, he and Tang Shen had fled the country to America for refuge from prosecution. Yet we all knew that if it wasn't the law which got to them first, then it would be The Foot clan, who was also in mourning for losing one of their great ninjitsu instructors. So that's why my father's suggestion had a resounding effect on me, because his view coincided with the plan of revenge The Foot held.

Later on that night I found myself in Nagi's old room. Kneeling on one of his training mats, I found myself staring at the walls filled with his prized and ornate collection of weapons. This was Nagi's life and out of respect for him, I wanted to adopt it and complete it for him. It was there I vowed to uphold my promise to my father and that I would never stop working towards that goal. There was no doubt in my mind that Nagi would be avenged.

Once the majority of my grief had subsided, only for my heart to be filled with the enlightening determination for vengeance, I applied for a position within the prestigious Foot clan. Yet it wasn't as easy as it had seemed. Clinging onto what my beloved brother had taught me before his imminent death, I showed the teachers those moves, and if it weren't for those brief little punches and kicks, or for the clan's overwhelming sympathy for me, I highly doubt that I would have been accepted. But I was determined to improve. Fulfilling my time with the clan's wisdom and teachings, I embraced Nagi's old lifestyle. I worked hard, spending hours after school every day on perfecting everything that I had learned. I even tried harder at my studies, especially in the areas of mathematics, history, science and technology, and later on, English. I was fighting for what I believed in.

As I gradually trained my body into the physique of a ninja, I noticed that my confidence and self-esteem grew too. I was no longer bullied at school and my peers respected me, a perk that Nagi no doubt experienced as well. Yet none of that could replace the emptiness I felt because I had lost my brother. I'm not sure how much everything meant to me. Sometimes I was just an empty shell of a boy, robbed of his childhood, training in his deceased brother's room. I practiced so much that parts of the floorboards were faded and worn where I had repeatedly moved, switching between stances and performing katas.

My father only confused me. He was glad that I had turned into a more responsible person, yet he knew what drove me to succeed. It was an issue he eventually sat on the fence about, not committing to either side. He wanted justice over Nagi's death, yet a part of him just wanted to move on from it all. But how could a person just move on? Act like nothing had happened? I had lost my brother and my life had been irreparably damaged. How could I do anything apart from despising the person who was responsible for the collapse of my family?

As years passed, I could see all of my hard work starting to pay off. At the age of fifteen, I had already sparred using numerous weapons including sai, katana, bo and nunchucks. Now was the time where I had to pick a weapon to focus my ninjitsu studies on. Sitting in Nagi's old bedroom, I meditated for an answer. I knew that I always loved the simplicity of the blade. Although all weapons were technically lethal, the sword was the one that represented that danger the most. I would have picked Nagi's traditional oriental katana, since that was the weapon of his that I admired the most during his lifetime, but a small, distant memory made me choose differently. I remembered the night when Nagi first taught me a few ninjitsu moves. He told me that a weapon wasn't necessary, as my body was one. I held his advice close to me and decided to put his wisdom into practice. That night, after searching through some of the old family chests, I found the old samurai-like weapon that I desired.

I remember my armor feeling rather heavy the first time I wore it. Yet at the same time it was freeing as my bladed gauntlets, and therefore my weapon, truly was an extension of myself. It commanded a sense of awe and power whenever I wore it in front of the other Foot ninjas at the dojo. Most importantly, it intimidated them. Sometimes they even hesitated to spar with me, and so I had to use punching bags instead, where I soon unintentionally developed a habit of shredding into them. The nickname, Shredder, never left my life from that point onwards.

Without fail, I would always wear the armor to the Foot's tournaments that were held internally. I always took the contests sincerely. After training so much, it was now natural to take my fighting seriously altogether. I didn't train everyday only to fail. So I battered my opponents to make sure there was no doubt about my skill and level of competence. I was the one who kept everyone on their toes, and I made sure that I weeded out the weak from the clan. Why should they get away with only having a half-hearted effort in training?

It didn't take long till my superior skills and hard work were noticed by the clan's numerous sempai. After winning a batch of regional tournaments, at the age of eighteen I was invited to fight against the Foot's current leader. He was a worthy opponent, but one that I had lost to in an extremely close match. "You fought well, Oroku Saki," he told me after our bout as I patched up my wounds. "Better than your brother did at your age," he boldly informed me. I wasn't sure if I should be proud of myself, or angered at the fact that Nagi's life was cut off so short. It was a particularly difficult time for me, because if I were Nagi, then I would have been dead by then. Calculating it only a few days prior, I discovered that I had currently reached one month further in life than my brother.

"Too bad we'll never truly know who was more skilled," I responded with a hint of contempt.

"And that's true too," the ninjitsu master said. I watched as he started to pace around the dojo while deep in thought. "As you might know, the Foot clan's popularity has diminished over the years. People think that we've become rather archaic with our ways and customs."

"People have put their faith in the Americans and have developed a liking for their lifestyle," I commented, feeling as though I was merely regurgitating some of the words and ideals that my father had once angrily spat out over the dinner table.

"I agree. The public believe that ninjas are in the past," the master heaved a sigh. "Which is why we're going to start expanding the Foot. We're going to open up a branch in New York City to see if we can get new recruits, or to allow ourselves to evolve with the rest of the world."

"I didn't know that," I admitted. "Who is going to lead over there?" I asked, trying to act innocent even though I knew where the conversation was heading.

"I was hoping you would. You are, after all, the best student here."

"And why do you believe that I'll accept this offer?" I was curious. I could just tell that there was something more.

"Because Hamato Yoshi lives in New York."

That was all that I needed to hear. I had given up all of my free time training in the hopes that I would one day face the man that had killed my brother. Leaving my family and friends behind was only a small sacrifice to make in the grand scheme of things. Once I packed my bags and left Japan, I never saw half of those people again, including the current leader of the Foot. Last I heard, he passed away and was replaced by a woman named Karai.

Manhattan was a busy, confusing and yet an adventuresome city. The fool, Hamato Yoshi, had made no effort in keeping his whereabouts concealed. All I had to do was look him up in a phone book. I didn't even bother to set aside a few days to spy on him first. I knew I would win. I just couldn't lose now. So much rage had built up inside of me from all of the sacrifices I had made over the years and I found it almost pleasurable that I would finally have the opportunity to unleash it. The wait was over.

Learning that Hamato Yoshi was located on the fifth floor of an apartment complex, I scaled up the fire escape to where I calculated my enemy lived. Peering in through the kitchen window, I couldn't see any figures within the immediate room. With a little effort, I jimmied the old and insecure window open before silently slipping inside. I paused as I heard some movement originating from within the next room. "Does it feel cold to you, Splinter? Maybe I left a window open." It was a woman's voice and while she seemed to be addressing someone else, it sounded like she was only talking to herself for comfort.

I pressed my back against the wall, standing beside the kitchen doorway. She entered the room with puzzlement, only seeing the window I had left open with her pitiful tunnel vision. It was definitely Tang Shen. Even after all the years that had passed, I could still remember her face - the face I wanted to shred to pieces for the way she mislead my brother to his demise. She was a two-faced simpleton who didn't even realize that her death was standing right behind her.

I didn't bother to allow her the time to turn around. I just killed her there and then. It was so simple, almost too easy. I rammed the blade on my gauntlet into her back, slicing in-between the ribs and managing to pierce her heart. If my spike was only a little longer, I feel that I might have ran her straight through, giving her an exit wound on her chest. Tang Shen floundered and flailed in surprise and pain, gaping like she was some big, elusive fish that had just been reeled in to its death. She disgusted me, so I quickly slit her throat with my spare hand to stop the horrible noise she was making. After a quick yank off my imbedded blade, she lifelessly fell face down to the kitchen floor.

I sneered at the red residue she had left on my gauntlets and I calmly washed it off in the nearby sink. I froze suddenly as I remembered something. Remaining quiet, I carefully moved into the next room. It contained their dining set, television, couches and some memorabilia from their homeland as though they had the nerve to continue calling my town their home. It was there that I heard some rustling noises. I quickly spun around and almost threw a shuriken, but I halted when I saw that it was only a caged rat. I recalled what I heard Tang Shen say before she died. So that was the other person. That must have been Splinter – a repulsive, beady-eyed rat. I stared at the creature while it simply stared back. I scoffed in disbelief that I almost wasted a good shuriken on that rodent.

Hamato Yoshi was nowhere to be found in the apartment and so I found myself with a few hours to spare and a couple of small jobs to do. I shifted the woman's corpse a foot or two, just so her body wasn't visible from entrance. My next kill wasn't going to be so easy. Hamato Yoshi was a highly trained fighter, one whose skill had possibly equaled Nagi's back in the day. I didn't know if he had continued to keep his body fit, or if maybe he had passed his prime. But I knew that if I had left Tang Shen's lifeless feet visible from the doorway, then the man might immediately enter into a defensive stance, or he could simply run away like a coward in fear. I didn't want either of those two options, as I preferred to have the element of surprise.

The couple seemed to live in a simple and cheap apartment, probably because the rent was so high in New York. All of the rooms were linked to the main living room, the place where their pet rodent was kept. I figured that the bathroom would be the best place to await Hamato Yoshi's return. My choice seemed to be a good one.

It was late in the afternoon when Hamato Yoshi returned home from his workplace. "Shen?" He called out as he slipped off his coat and draped it across the back of one of the couches. He called for his wife once again, only to get the same nonexistent response. Peering out from behind the bathroom door, I could see my enemy's body tense. Before he saw anything, he smelt the stench of the blood. As the fool slowly made his way into the kitchen, I slipped out from my hiding spot and stealthily followed him through the living room. It was all so surreal. In just a few seconds, I was going to be experiencing the moment I had worked towards for the past eight years. Could this really be it? Could it really be the end of everything?

He was just staring in shock at the gruesome sight I had left him. I was going to slice my blades against his back, but he was quick to regain his senses. Spinning around, he launched a kick at me, one that pushed me a fair way back into the living room. "Who are you!" He demanded. Recovering from his blow, I decided on impulse to remove my helmet and mask, throwing them beside me on the floor. Hamato Yoshi gasped. "It, it can't be!" he stuttered in disbelief. "Oroku Nagi?" the name slipped between his lips, obviously noticing the family resemblance.

"No," I said, my voice coming out strong. "I'm Oroku Saki! You killed my brother, remember?" I snarled. Hamato Yoshi's face turned from being fearful, to being completely serious. He knew what my business was. He knew that I was after revenge. Suddenly his face expressed a sign of disgust.

"To think that I saved your life once," he detested. I could see that the death of Tang Shen was starting to infiltrate his adrenaline-rushed mind.

"That was before you destroyed it!" With that, I could no longer take control over my desire to obliterate him. I rushed forwards, wanting to land a kick, but he shoved my leg aside, letting it merely skim against his thigh. It seemed that he did continue training after he had left Japan. But he was a slow middle-aged man who really stood no chance against me; a person who had slaved away for hours a day in preparation for this very battle. Off-balance from my kick, the imbecile connected a few palm strikes to my abdomen, but my armor absorbed most of the impact.

I rammed my knee into his stomach, doubling him over for a second. I was about to whack the top of his head with the tip of my elbow when he suddenly shot his leg out and made a sweep for my legs. I fell to the floor, but I quickly recovered by somersaulting backwards and climbing to my feet. But by the time I stood up, he was there in front of me, giving my armored body a large, violent shove backwards. A metallic crash was heard as I bumped into an object, and before I knew it, something was ripping into my unprotected face. I hissed and snarled in reaction to the pain. I could feel my own blood being scratched out.

Disorientated, I grabbed the object from my face and violently threw it to the floor. Without thinking I immediately brought my arm down to slice it. I halted when the image of the pet rat finally registered in my mind. I tried to pull off my attack as it was a waste of my time, but I still had too much momentum and I ended up cutting off a piece of the rodent's ear with the acute sharpness of my blades. The rodent was startled for a moment before it finally came out of shock and scampered underneath the couch.

The rat had cost me some valuable seconds. Hamato Yoshi sent a roundhouse kick to my unprotected head, sending me sprawling across the ground. The taste of blood dribbled into my mouth. I rolled away from my opponent as best I could, ending up at the base of the dinner table. I used a nearby dining chair for balance and before I knew it, I was using the piece of furniture as a blockade between myself and Nagi's murderer. Hamato Yoshi managed to withstand a few of hits from the chair legs by taking the blows on his forearms and shoulders. Infuriated, I pushed the chair forward, sending him back and giving myself a bit more ground to work with.

That was when I gained my confidence back. I was the one wearing the blades and armor. I had the advantage compared to Hamato's pathetic defense due to his lack of weapons. I sneered at the throbbing pain that hadn't left my head from the previous hits I had endured, and I entered a fit of fury as a consequence. Throwing the chair aside and scooting forward, using the movements I had trained on for years in Nagi's old bedroom, I slashed like a maniac with no mercy. They were fast, rapid attacks to which there was nothing one could do but dodge. Such a furious assault could only be kept up for a short period of time before a break would have to occur, but I tried my best to maintain my stamina.

Hamato Yoshi simply wasn't as fast as he used to be. Backing into a corner, he instinctively tried to block one of my swings with his forearm, only to succeed into getting his limb severely lacerated. His blood splattered onto the floorboards. He was running purely on instinct now. Hamato Yoshi made a last second dive out of the corner, keeping his injured arm now close to his body. I could tell he was frantically heading towards the kitchen, obviously thinking about equipping himself with a knife. He never got there.

Glancing upwards, I quickly gained the extra few feet needed to bring him down, by relentlessly jumping up and using the light fitting that hung from the ceiling as a makeshift swing. I kicked his back with both feet. The momentum was enough to make him fall to the floor. I was beside him in an instant. I slit my sharpened blades across his back, as though I was slicing into a fresh piece of fruit. He hollered in pain and scrambled to get back up, but I placed my foot squarely in-between his two scapulas and pinned him down. I menacingly bent over, rifled my fingers through his hair and brought his head up. With my other free hand, I slit his throat. It was in that instant that I realized that he had died staring at the feet of Tang Shen's corpse. I thought it was fitting.

An eerie sense of calmness enveloped the room. The only noise I could hear was my own breathing and the rapid thumps of my heart. I couldn't believe it. I had succeeded. Eight years of training had finally amounted to this. I had truly fought for what I had believed in, just like Nagi had advised so many years ago. Could it really be over?

It was all too much for me to handle and I found myself stumbling towards the couch, as I needed to sit down. The adrenaline from the battle still rushed through my veins, causing my hands to tremble uncontrollably. It was an odd moment. As I sat there, I had a flashback to my childhood, where in my palms were the joystick and buttons for the _Space Invaders_ arcade game. I don't know what made me think of it, especially in such a drastically different situation. Maybe it was simply because I hadn't felt the same sensation until that day. My eyebrows furrowed as I realized that I had completely forgotten about that game; my innocent goals and pointless ambitions. What happened to the boy that I used to be?

It saddened me when I tried to remember who I used to be, as I feared that I had now come too far to turn back. I had accomplished my life-long ambition to avenge my brother, but now what? I was only eighteen. Could I just return to being normal? Suddenly the emptiness that had remained in my body since Nagi's death arose and smothered my senses. I realized that no matter what I did, I was still alone and without my brother.

Soon a question plagued my mind, to which to this date I still have no answer for. So who was I? Was I still that little boy who just seemed to love the simple things in life, such as getting the top score in an arcade game? Or was I more like the bullies at my old school? The rapist who attacked the innocent? Lex Luthor – a villain who was sinister yet bold? I shuddered at my next thought. Was I really any better than Hamato Yoshi? I immediately denied it. Of course my actions were justified! I was upholding justice – maintaining my brother's honor! I was only fighting for what I loved… wasn't I?

I was in somber mood when I finally moved to leave the apartment. I thought I would be ecstatic about succeeding, but instead I feared that maybe I had only wasted my time and youth. I was remorseful, not because of the fact that I had murdered two people who deserved it, but because I knew that I had lost myself in the whole process.

Exiting the way I came, I paused as I noticed my enemy's pet rat sitting by the kitchen windowsill. The creature merely stared at me. I loathed its constant gaze shooed it away outside. How I laugh in irony at that moment now. If only I knew the trouble that beast would one day cause me. If I could relive things over, I definitely would have thrown a shuriken at it instead. But at the time, of course I didn't think that it would one day mutate, learn ninjitsu, teach a bunch of turtles, and come after me out of revenge. No one in their wildest dreams would have predicted that outcome. It was just a rat!

The burden of avenging my brother had been lifted and yet I didn't feel like a free man when I left the apartment. My life had no plan. I wasn't even sure if I was living my life or just mimicking Nagi's example. I decided to phone my father, hoping that for once he would encourage me. I was wrong.

"Father?" I started, tapping my fingers anxiously against the top of the pay phone. "I have avenged Nagi. It is done!" I was surprised at the amount of excitement that had flooded onto my voice. I waited for a response, but my father was keeping silent. "Father?" I had to prompt him.

"Why didn't you just move on?" I could hear him let out a heavy sigh. "You were so obsessed with all of this… I never knew you, Saki. Now I have two sons that are dead to me."

I hung up on him. I couldn't bear to hear any more. As much as I hated to admit it, I knew what he meant. Over the years, I was so obsessed with training and getting my revenge that I never bothered to seek a life outside of it. While I was a teenager, I wasn't interested in girls, popular culture or a lot of the social scene. I didn't even allow myself the time to have a break and develop a relationship with my family. I figured that's why my father said those words to me over the phone. By avenging Nagi for most of my life, my motivations only reminded my father of his tragic death. I was merely living in my brother's shadow, never developing my own individual personality. Yet what angered me was that my father was one of the reasons why I did it! I only wanted to please him; to gain his acknowledgment and praise. I tried so hard and yet my actions were still _worthless_ in his eyes. How could he not see just how glorious that day was? I was old enough to see his many flaws for what they were. He was an old fool who had a great, honorable son to carry on the family name, and yet he saw nothing.

My father's words once again inadvertently motivated me, but this time I wanted to prove him wrong, as though I needed to convince myself that my actions against Hamato Yoshi were indeed justified. A few weeks later when I had a small army of Foot ninjas finally in my command, I set out into the large world of New York City with the hope of bringing justice when the police or courts could not – an ideal similar to how I had appropriately dealt with Hamato Yoshi. Effectively, the New York faction of the Foot started out as mercenaries for hire. Assassins or hit men as ignorant people would describe us. The sense of accomplishment was good and the money we gained was even greater. As word got around that a clan of ninjas were in town, soon we were hired to carry out robberies against greedy, undeserving people and companies. Sometimes we even stole from Government agencies, as after all, if the law had been upheld properly in the first place, then there would be no need for us to take the initiative in setting things straight. Without the Foot keeping everything in its rightful place, the entire judicial system would be hopelessly incompetent!

The clan's enrollment numbers grew and one day I decided to obliterate the middleman (literally) in order to conduct all of our business internally. We didn't need to be ordered around anymore by people with a lot of money, especially when I could find prospective targets on my own. Under my excellent leadership, the Foot had become more powerful than one could have ever imagined.

Hamato Yoshi had almost been forgotten when one day my past came back to haunt me once again. The rat returned, this time with his pathetically trained mutant turtles in tow. They spouted cruel words, accusing me of being dishonorable and condemned me for murdering Hamato Yoshi and his whore. They spoke to me about mourning as though I had never experienced it. How dare they! The fools were only continuing on the never-ending circle of revenge, seeking justice for a person who was rightly killed in the first place. How could those little beasts ever hope to comprehend it all?

I loathed them with a passion. Not because the turtles continued to destroy my plans or get in my way. Rather I envied them. I wasn't jealous of their skills, looks, possessions or lifestyle. I envied them because they had nothing valuable in their life except for their family and that was all the motivation they needed to fuel their egotistical, relentless attacks on my clan. The turtles each have had the opportunity to fight alongside their brother and it irritated me as to how ungrateful they could be to each other sometimes. I desperately just wanted to kill all of the rat's ill-begotten pets so that he may actually have a chance in comprehending the pain I have experienced.

In comparison to their lives, I now have all the riches I could ever want and yet none of it can afford a family. After that phone call on the day of Hamato Yoshi's death, I never spoke to my father again. He died a few years later from a medical illness. I called my mother every so often, but I eventually lost touch. She developed Alzheimer's disease and was recently placed in a nursing home. It just got too difficult to continue communicating with her, especially when she kept on painfully mistaking me for Nagi.

I suppose my brother's presence will never leave me, one way or another. Some days I want to forget, but it's never long till I realize once again how important it is to remember him. When I'm feeling lonely or sentimental in my private quarters, I always find myself opening up one of the drawers of my desk. Inside is the yen Nagi gave me – the money I never got to spend on the day of his death. I don't think I could ever part with it as it means too much to me now. It symbolizes everything that he gave me and that in the end, nothing in the world can be exchanged for a brother's love.


End file.
